Masters of War
by Ryvian
Summary: A collection of ficlets featuring Zack and Sephiroth. Set during the Wutai War.
1. Run Through The Jungle

**Run Through The Jungle**

Sephiroth shivered. He was wet, he was cold, and he was not happy. This was supposed to have been a routine scouting mission, but he hadn't counted on a storm coming and washing out the trail, and therefore causing them to have to make their own longer route back to base camp.

So now here he was sitting out in the middle of the damn jungle as night fell, hoping that the fire Donovan was attempting to start would last through the night.

"Alright!"

Donovan piled some branches on the meager fire that had started and then sat down. Sephiroth got up and moved as close to the fire as possible.

"I don't s'pose you brought any food," Donovan said.

"No, I did not," Sephiroth replied, choosing to ignore the informal way the man was speaking to him, because he was too tired to be bothered with correcting him.

"Damn…" Donovan said.

Sephiroth stared into the fire, weariness beginning to take its toll on him. He was exhausted, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. He didn't trust Donovan enough yet. He seemed to be a good SOLDIER, based on how quickly he had climbed the ranks, but Sephiroth needed to see more before he would trust him enough to let his guard down.

"They talk about you a lot back in Midgar, ya know?" Donovan said, "They say you made First Class at 15. That true?"

"Yes," Sephiroth answered simply. He was growing tired of that question.

"That's really amazing," Donovan said.

Sephiroth merely snorted softly.

"You probably get that all the time, though," Donovan said.

Donovan started babbling about something or another, but Sephiroth was no longer paying attention. He cursed whoever had decided to assign Donovan to his command. The Major, though practically still a child, was skilled, that was for certain. But he had to be the most annoying person Sephiroth had ever met.

Unfortunately, Donovan was the highest ranking SOLDIER member in his battalion, aside from himself, so he'd be seeing much more of him. Probably, he thought with a slight grimace, Donovan would be accompanying him on every mission from there on.

His thoughts came to a halt then, as he realized that he'd been so preoccupied that he'd forgotten all about how miserable he was. He looked at Donovan, who was still talking, and wondered if that had been the man's intention all along.

It couldn't have been, he told himself. Donovan was too simple-minded for that.

-----

The air was wet and heavy the next morning as they picked their way through the undergrowth, Sephiroth cutting a path with his sword.

There was a loud slap from behind him, followed by a string of muffled curses.

"I hate this fucking jungle..."

"Language, Major," Sephiroth said, slicing through a vine.

"Sorry, sir," Donovan said, then muttered under his breath, "Fucking bugs the size of my goddamn fist..."

The continued on for 500 yards or so, until they came to a clearing and a low growl from directly in front of them made Sephiroth stop. A monster that resembled something like a cross between a wolf and tiger came out of the trees and stood there, snarling at them.

Sephiroth eyed it, forming a battle strategy in his mind. It would probably be best to hit it with a spell rather than attack it directly to avoid...

Donovan let out a yell from behind him and before Sephiroth knew what was happening he charged the beast, doing a rather impressive one-handed flip and landing behind it.

"Take this, you bastard!" he said, and brought his sword down before the monster even had the chance to react. The beast let out a death cry and crumpled.

Sephiroth watched Donovan clean his bloody sword on a giant leaf and considered his battle strategy or lack thereof. His conduct was reckless, but he had to admit it was effective.

Donovan swung his sword back into its place on his back and looked at him, obviously for orders.

Sephiroth walked past him, sidestepping the beast's corpse and settled himself on a rock. He'd been in need of a rest for awhile and this seemed like as good a place as any.

He took out the compass and raised it to the sky. The needle hovered over "SW". Excellent, they were still heading in the proper direction.

He raised his head to check the location of the sun, and chills ran down the back of his neck...seconds before he heard the sound of metal slicing through flesh.

He jumped up from the rock and whirled around in time to see Donovan pull his sword out of the back of a black clothed man.

"That was a close one," Donovan said, "Another second and the bastard woulda had ya."

Sephiroth was shocked for the first time in years. Donovan had noticed the assassin's approach before he had. That had never happened before; he was always the first to notice anything. Perhaps Donovan was better than he'd been giving him credit for.

Or perhaps he was just slow because he was tired. Yes, that had to be it.

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed the beginning of my latest fanfic endeavor_. _There's lots more to come!_  



	2. The Nature of Fire

**The Nature of Fire**

Wutai was burning.

Zack stood beside his commander on a cliff overlooking the city. He looked at Sephiroth, who was staring blankly down at the blaze, the flames reflecting in his inhuman eyes.

He still remembered the look on Sephiroth's face when he had given the order. To anyone else, it would've looked the same as always, but Zack, who'd been under Sephiroth's command for nearly a year, and serving as his unofficial second for half of that, saw the reluctance and guilt for what he was about to do.

When he'd first arrived in Wutai, he'd thought, just as everyone else that Sephiroth was cold and heartless, that he killed without mercy and with no reservations. His mind had quickly been changed when he saw the slow, careful way that Sephiroth cleaned his sword, head bowed slightly as he wiped the blood of those he'd slain from its polished surface. It was almost exactly like watching someone paying last respects at a funeral.

The way he looked during those times was very much like the way he looked now, except that this time there was nothing to clean the blood from.

Zack glanced around. There was no one else on the cliff; the other soldiers had returned to camp to sleep, leaving them alone.

"Seph?" he said, fully aware that he was breaking military protocol by daring to use such a nickname.

Sephiroth looked at him. "...you have never called me that before," he said, his soft tone very different from the one Zack was used to.

"Does it bother you?"

"No," Sephiroth said.

"Good," Zack said, "'cause I was gonna keep using it anyway."

"Three syllables are too many for you?"

"What can I say? I'm lazy."

Sephiroth snorted quietly and turned back to the flames.

"It had to be done," Zack said, "You know that as well as I do."

"That changes nothing," Sephiroth said, "No matter what the purpose, the result is the same."

"War is much like fire," he continued, "It consumes all it touches, altering it, destroying it..."

"But fire doesn't only destroy things," Zack said, "When you cast steel in a forge, the fire makes it so it can be molded into something stronger and more beautiful than before."

Zack hated the war just as much as the next person, but if he'd never been there he'd never have met the people who were now his friends, he never would've become the skilled fighter he was, he never would've learned the important things he learned.

"And even though it destroys things sometimes, new things are born from the ashes. Things that are better than what was there before."

Sephiroth turned away from the flames again and nodded once, almost unnoticeably, before he turned and walked back toward camp, and Zack followed him with a smile on his face.

* * *

_Yeah, these aren't in any real chronological order...For theme #9: Fire at 30 fantasies on LJ._  



	3. Morale

_Formerly posted under First Class, but moved here because of its setting._**  
**

**Morale**

Sephiroth had always thought the holiday was absurd, and being surrounded by soldiers eating shaped cookies and opening the brightly wrapped gifts that had been coming with the mail for days only served to strengthen his opinion.

"That scowl is very unbecoming."

Sephiroth gave Zack a glare, which didn't seem to faze him at all; He just kept on grinning. It never ceased to amaze him how Zack could just shrug off a look that would have made anyone else need a fresh pair of pants.

"I fail to understand why such a holiday is allowed to be celebrated on a warfront," Sephiroth said, returning his gaze to the small groups of soldiers nearby, who were talking and showing off whatever useless items had emerged from amidst the tacky paper covered packages at their feet.

"It's good for morale," Zack replied.

Sephiroth scoffed. He supposed that was true, but why something so pointless would make the troops happy was beyond him.

"I have reports to file," Sephiroth said, glad for an excuse to escape the "merriment".

Zack just grinned at him again as he left, making him wonder what his friend was so happy about.

He pushed aside the flap of his tent and stopped dead in his tracks. Sitting in the center of his desk was a package wrapped in shiny black paper.

He walked around the desk several times, inspecting it, before he noticed the piece of paper under it. He pulled it out and opened it, recognizing the barely legible writing on it instantly.

_Seph,_

_I know you think it's stupid, but I got you something anyway._

_Zack_

Sephiroth folded the paper back up and set it back on his desk.

"…Good for morale…" he muttered, with a smile.


	4. Duty

_Formerly posted under First Class, but moved here because of its setting._**  
**

**Duty**

"Seph!"

Sephiroth barely had time to register the panic in Zack's voice, before he was pushed roughly. He could only watch as a bullet tore through Zack's flesh, a bullet that had been intended for _him_.

Zack fell to his knees with a cry of pain, his hand covering his shoulder. Sephiroth knelt beside him.

"Find out where that came from!" he shouted to the nearest officer. The man saluted and ran off.

"Come on," he said to Zack, "There will probably be more."

Zack nodded and stood up. They walked a few feet toward the medical tent before Zack staggered and Sephiroth had to reach out an arm to keep him from falling.

Sephiroth helped him the rest of the way to the tent and onto one of the tables inside. The medic was there almost instantly and made Zack lay back.

As the medic went to work, Sephiroth seated himself on a vacant cot nearby. Now that he was beginning to calm down he had time to fully appreciate the fact that Zack had just saved his life. Why hadn't he been paying enough attention to notice the bullet? What kind of commanding officer was he if he put his subordinates in danger like that?

Zack's yell cut through the thick, warm air of the medical tent and straight through Sephiroth, making him feel even guiltier than he already did.

"Just a moment more," the medic said. He moved the forceps around in Zack's shoulder, before pulling out a bloody bullet and dropping it into the metal pan on the nearby table.

Zack heaved a sigh and went slack on the table, panting and sweating. The medic fetched some bandages and set about dressing the wound.

Sephiroth wondered what could have possessed Zack to take a bullet for him. That was going far above and beyond what was expected of a SOLDIER.

The medic finished bandaging the wound. "Go get some rest," he told Zack, and then went to tend to some of the other patients.

Sephiroth stood and went over to the table, where Zack was still lying. "How does it feel to be a war hero?" he said, sounding harsher than he meant to.

"I don't care about that," Zack said, looking at Sephiroth through half-lidded eyes.

"Then why?"

Zack smiled. "Just doing my duty."


	5. Deliberation

**Deliberation**

Six years. That was how long he'd been in this forsaken place. For six years he'd seen countless men die. He'd seen so much blood that he scarcely noticed it anymore. The smell that had once made his stomach churn was now just as natural to him as the smog of Midgar.

The war had changed him. The intelligent, soft-spoken boy with an aptitude for combat he was before he'd arrived had become a cold, sharp killing machine, not unlike the sword he wielded. When he looked in the mirror now, he hardly recognized the man he saw.

He moved his gaze from the canopy of the green tent to the cot next to his own, where Zack lay, still asleep. He'd been moved into Sephiroth's formerly private tent after his promotion to Colonel. Sephiroth had felt it best to have the only other high-ranking SOLDIER member, and therefore secondary commander, close at hand.

He was young, barely out of childhood, like Sephiroth himself had been when he'd been deployed, a fact that showed in his brash actions and carefree attitude. In the first week of their acquaintance, Sephiroth had thought it a wonder that he'd made it as far as he had, but he'd quickly learned that there was more to the young man than he'd thought.

Zack was smart and extremely perceptive, keenly aware of his surroundings even when it appeared he wasn't. He was quick and his fighting skills were better than any Sephiroth had ever seen. Granted, he annoyed Sephiroth to no end more often than not and Sephiroth swore he was insane, but there was no one he would rather have around in a difficult situation.

He was beginning to think that there was no one he would rather have around in _any_ situation. There was just something about Zack that made him hard to dislike, despite how annoying he could be. Without him even noticing, their relationship had already gone beyond that of commander and soldier.

He told himself that he couldn't let himself get close to anyone, because it only led to pain, but no matter how hard he tried to tell Zack to leave him alone, the words wouldn't come. Little by little Zack was infiltrating his defenses and he was powerless to stop him.

The wakeup call rang out and Sephiroth sat up. He heard Zack move and glanced over at him.

Zack smiled. "Mornin'..."

Sephiroth inclined his head in response and got up, going over to the hook which held his coat, belt, and armor. Quickly, with the precise movements of one who'd done this same thing many times, he dressed himself for battle.

He thought, as he slid on his boots, that even if he were here for six more years it might not be so bad. Nothing seemed quite as bad when Zack was around.

There were a series of thuds and a muffled curse. He turned and saw that, in his usual pre-dawn stupor, Zack had somehow managed to trip over absolutely nothing and fall flat on his face, taking half the rifles on the wrack beside him with him.

Sephiroth sighed quietly. What had he gotten himself into...?


	6. Casualty

**Casualty**

Zack took a deep breath and tried to stay calm, which was very hard to do when kneeling beside his fallen commander and trying to remember the first-aid procedure. He'd gone over it a million times in training, but now that it was actually needed, he was drawing a blank.

_Shit, shit, shit..._ "Hang on, Sephiroth."

There was no response.

"Shit..." Zack mumbled, "Think...think...think..."

He took another deep breath and suddenly it came to him, all of it, exactly as he'd learned.

He leaned down and placed his ear over Sephiroth's mouth. He stayed there for a moment, listening, waiting, but he didn't hear or feel any breath. He swallowed another bout of panic and checked for a pulse. It was there and it was strong.

"Good..." he said, and tilted Sephiroth's head back, hoping that would start his breathing again.

To his relief, Sephiroth gasped and started breathing normally. His eyes opened halfway and he looked at Zack. There was pain in them, but they were unclouded, which was a good sign.

"Leave me..." Sephiroth said, the pain coming through in his voice, "Continue the mission..."

"Like hell I will!" Zack said, "I don't care what the protocol says, I'm not leaving you."

Zack took a bandage from his first-aid kit, opened it and pressed it against one of the bullet wounds in Sephiroth's leg, then took out another with his free hand, tore it open with his teeth and pressed it against the other.

"Colonel..." Sephiroth said, "I order you...to leave me..."

"No," Zack said. No matter how many times Sephiroth asked him, he wasn't going to leave. He was breaking protocol and now was disobeying a direct order, but he didn't care. Sephiroth wasn't just his commander, he was his friend and Zack would not leave anyone to die, most of all a friend.

Sephiroth grabbed his arm and tried to pull his hand away, but Zack fought against his grip, even though Sephiroth was holding him so hard it hurt.

"Damn it," Zack said, "Do you have a death wish or something?"

Sephiroth looked him straight in the eye for a long moment, then released him, his arm falling back to his side. "Carry on..." he said.

Zack sighed inwardly, glad that he wouldn't have to do something he didn't want to do to get Sephiroth to cooperate.

-----

At morning formation the next day, Zack was surprised to see Sephiroth emerge from the medical tent in full battle dress, minus the armor, and with the addition of a pair of crutches. He hadn't expected Sephiroth to be up and about for at least a day, but it seemed that the rumors of his phenomenal healing ability were true.

As Sephiroth headed over to them, Zack called out to the soldiers behind him, "Battalion! Attention!"

He moved to attention and heard the battalion do the same. He noticed, as Sephiroth came closer that he looked as though he hadn't slept and was in pain, though he was doing a fine job of hiding it.

Zack saluted when Sephiroth was close enough and watched as Sephiroth stopped a few feet in front of him.

"At ease," he said, his voice a little weaker than it normally was.

He and the battalion moved as instructed.

"Alpha Company, report for briefing at 0700," Sephiroth said, "Bravo Company, report at 0730. Dismissed."

The battalion saluted once more and dispersed, most of them heading for the showers or mess tent.

Sephiroth headed for the main tent and Zack followed. Once inside, Sephiroth eased himself into the chair behind his desk with a hiss of pain.

"I need to speak to you about yesterday," Sephiroth said.

"Look, I wasn't gonna leave you," Zack said, "I know protocol says to leave casualties if helping them keeps the mission from being completed, but I don't care. I don't know how they expect any decent person to be able to just leave someone...Reprimand me all you want, but that won't keep me from doing the same thing again."

"Zack..." Sephiroth said, and Zack realized that Sephiroth wasn't being formal with him and hadn't been when he'd first spoke, "I wasn't planning on reprimanding you. I...want to thank you for what you did."

Zack stared at him, surprised. A thank you was the last thing he'd expected. He'd expected to be yelled at, given latrine duty, even be demoted, but never to be thanked.

"Now then, go get me some coffee," Sephiroth said, "and make sure it's strong."

Zack smiled. "Sure thing."

* * *

_I'm so going to get an A in my online First-Aid course! Booya! Hey, no one ever said you couldn't combine studying with fun. In other news, this fic will be on hiatus at the end of March. Why? Because I joined the Army and will be gone for training. I'm planning on starting it up again when possible._


	7. Climbing The Walls

**Climbing The Walls**

Sephiroth circled slowly, blade pointed at his opponent, his face a mask of icy calm.

"I ask you one last time, surrender peacefully and let this be over," he said. His voice was perfectly even, but Zack knew the emotions that were hidden behind those words.

Lord Godo looked back at Sephiroth with the same calm, his sword in hand, ready to fight.

"I will never surrender to the likes of you," Godo said, anger in his voice.

"So be it," Sephiroth said and charged him.

The bout was over in a matter of seconds, Godo on his back, the point of Masamune at his throat.

"Now do you surrender?" Sephiroth asked.

"Never," Godo replied.

"A shame," Sephiroth said, and moved his sword so the blade was against Godo's throat.

There was a tiny cry from the doorway and the three of them turned to see a girl of about 7 or 8 standing amongst the bodies of Godo's slain guards, wearing a nightgown.

"Yuffie," Godo said, sounding perfectly normal, as if he wasn't about to die, "Go back to bed."

The girl scampered away down the hall. Sephiroth's eyes remained on the doorway for a few seconds after the girl left before they flicked back to Godo.

Sephiroth pulled a small stack of slightly crinkled papers from inside his jacket and threw them on the ground next to Godo. "The terms of your surrender and Shinra's occupation. I will be expecting their return by dawn."

In one sharp motion, he sheathed his sword, and walked out. Zack followed, slightly confused as to what had just happened.

As soon as they arrived back at their camp and were inside their tent, Sephiroth removed his sword from his back and placed it in its rack above his cot, but instead of going to his desk as he usually did after a mission, he continued to stand there, staring at the blade as if deep in thought.

Part of Zack told him to leave his commander be and go brief the troops as was required of him, but he ignored it and went over to him.

"Seph?"

Sephiroth didn't move. "Inform the troops of our victory, Colonel."

Zack frowned. He'd actually thought that Sephiroth would tell him what he was thinking, but he'd put up the same impenetrable wall he always did. They'd been working together for almost two years and still the General hadn't let him become anything more than a comrade. Frankly, Zack was growing tired of throwing himself into the wall and getting nothing for it but bruises.

He snapped to attention, gave a half-hearted salute, and walked out.

-----

After Zack had briefed the troops and went for a walk to blow off some steam, he returned to the tent. Upon entering, he found Sephiroth lying on his cot. From his position, Zack couldn't tell whether he was asleep.

"I trust you did what was expected of you," Sephiroth said, eyes still closed.

Well, that solved that mystery. "Roger, Sir," Zack replied.

He went over and sat down on his own cot, looking at Sephiroth's profile for a moment before speaking. "Seph?"

Sephiroth opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"What's up with you tonight?" he asked, supposing it was worth another shot. He wasn't one to give up.

Sephiroth shut his eyes. "Nothing, Colonel."

Zack clenched his jaw in annoyance. There was no way he was going to let it go this time. He'd done that far too many times already.

"Don't give me that 'Colonel' bullshit," he said, the annoyance coming through in his voice, "I'm sick and tired of trying to get you to talk to me, so you know what? I'm done. If I'm nothing more than another SOLDIER to you then fine, that's what I'll be." Zack stood and headed for the door. "Goodnight, General."

"I could have ended the war tonight," Sephiroth said.

Zack stopped.

"Had I killed him, the war would be over," Sephiroth continued, "But I…couldn't."

The hint of regret in Sephiroth's voice made Zack turn. "Why?"

Sephiroth looked up at the roof of the tent. "The child…I could not leave her without a father."

Zack returned to his seat on the cot. He'd been wondering at that odd display of mercy from one notorious for showing none.

"I…know nothing of my parents," Sephiroth said, "I do not wish that fate on anyone, even those who Shinra has deemed my enemies."

Zack looked at him, aching inside at those words. "Seph…"

Sephiroth closed his eyes. "Such is my weakness…One of many…"

"I've never thought of compassion as a weakness," Zack said, "It's one of the things that makes you human."

Sephiroth looked over at him. "Either way, I've lengthened this war. I knew when I gave him those papers that I would never see them again."

"Oh well," Zack said, "We've been here forever, what's another few months?"

Sephiroth snorted.

Zack yawned widely. "Well, I'm beat. 'Night."

Sephiroth nodded once in reply.

Zack laid down and closed his eyes. He'd finally climbed the walls and he liked the man he found on the other side. And something told him he'd be seeing him much more. He smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

_Finally another part! I am finished with my training (I'm a real soldier now, woo!) and have a lot more free time, so there should be updates again. I've been writing on this part for weeks, so I'm sorry if it seems a bit disjointed. I hope you enjoyed it. _


	8. Insubordination

**Insubordination **

"Colonel, what are you-?"

"Shh!" Zack hissed, and motioned to the tent he stood several feet from. "Wait for it..."

Not a second later, there was a hissing sound and white smoke billowed out of the tent, followed by a SOLDIER, red-faced and coughing.

Sephiroth looked at Zack, who looked as if he was enjoying the SOLDIER's suffering immensely. "Tear gas?"

"Bastard decided he wanted to badmouth me behind my back," Zack said.

"Enjoying my little present, Lieutenant?" Zack yelled to the SOLDIER, who was stumbling around.

The SOLDIER looked at him through bleary eyes. "Fuck…you…" he gasped.

"I will not tolerate insubordination in my camp, Lieutenant," Sephiroth said.

The SOLDIER froze and his gaze went to Sephiroth. "G-general! I…"

"I will not tolerate excuses, either," Sephiroth interrupted his sputtering.

"Y-yes sir," the SOLDIER said.

"Dismissed," Sephiroth said and the SOLDIER stumbled away.

Zack burst out laughing. "That was so awesome! The look on his face when you…"

Sephiroth fixed Zack with a cold stare. "As for you, Colonel…"

An hour later, Zack was on his hands and knees behind their tent with a pair of nail clippers.

"You're cruel, Seph," Zack said and clipped a single blade of grass.

Sephiroth regarded him from where he stood, leaning against a tent post, arms crossed over his chest. "You had better pick up the pace," he said, "It's getting dark."

Zack mumbled something under his breath and clipped another blade.

* * *

_Short little piece based on some stories a friend in my unit told me of what he did to a particularly annoying Private he knew in training._  



End file.
